Vehicle-mounted transducer

ABSTRACT

Tools are provided to assisting in the driving of a given vehicle in motion. Memory and a processor are provided. The processor is configured and interoperable with the memory, a transducer driver, and the given vehicle&#39;s driving control system. An object transducer carried by the given vehicle is driven in order to detect another moving vehicle in a detection area at a detection distance away from the given vehicle. Notification messages sent from other vehicles are received. The notification messages include a too close notification message sent from one of the other vehicles. A determination is made, based at least in part on the too close notification message sent from the one of the other vehicles, when the given vehicle is positioned in relation to the other moving vehicle such that the given vehicle should be driven differently. The given vehicle automatically takes remedial action upon the determination that the given vehicle is too close to the other moving vehicle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The instant application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/350,888, filed Jan. 28, 2019, which is a continuation of Ser. No.15/352,070, filed Aug. 30, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/887,590, filed May 6, 2013, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/836,531, filed Aug.9, 2007, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated byreference herein in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method, an apparatus and a computerprogram for communicating information from a vehicle to a pedestrianand/or an occupant of another vehicle.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Vehicle manufacturers are installing proximity sensors in vehicles. Theproximity sensors are typically installed in the rear of the vehicle andconfigured to be activated when the vehicle is placed in reverse. Somevehicle manufacturers have also installed proximity sensors in front ofvehicles, which have been configured, like the rear-mountedcounterparts, to detect objects within a predetermined range ofdistances in front of the vehicle.

Accordingly, many vehicle users (i.e., drivers) have learned to rely onthe proximity sensors to the point where they take for granted theproper functioning of the sensors. This presents a considerable dangerto pedestrians, especially small children, who may not be visible fromany vantage point of the driver of the vehicle. Thus, if the driverrelies on the proximity sensors to avoid small objects, which are notvisible from the driver's perspective, the result can be catastrophicshould the proximity sensors fail unbeknownst to the driver.

Thus, an unfulfilled need exists for notifying drivers of the functionalstatus of the proximity sensors mounted on a vehicle. Furthermore, aneed exists for providing safety features that will minimize thepossibility of accidental contact between vehicles and objects, orbetween vehicles.

SUMMARY OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the invention are directed to a method for drivingcontrol of a vehicle in motion. The method includes emitting a rangefinding signal from a front end of the vehicle in motion; determining aspeed of the vehicle in motion; determining ambient conditions in whichthe vehicle is in motion; receiving a signal in response to the emittedrange finding signal indicative of an object located in front of thevehicle in motion; and adjusting at least one driving parameter of thevehicle in motion based upon the location of the object.

According to embodiments, after receiving the signal indicative of anobject located in front of the vehicle in motion, the method can furtherinclude: determining a speed of the object located in front of thevehicle in motion and a distance between the object and the vehicle inmotion; and determining whether the object located in front of thevehicle is moving in a same direction as the vehicle in motion. Further,after determining the speed of the object and determining that theobject is moving in the same direction as the vehicle in motion, themethod may further include: determining a target distance to bemaintained between the vehicle in motion and the object. The at leastone driving parameter is adjusted to maintain the target distancebetween the vehicle in motion and the object. Still further, beforedetermining the target distance, the method may also include:determining a distance to the object based on the received a signal inresponse to the emitted range finding signal indicative of an objectlocated in front of the vehicle in motion; and determining ambientconditions surrounding the vehicle in motion. The determined targetdistance is based upon at least the determined speed and the ambientconditions.

In accordance with other embodiments, the adjusted at least one drivingparameter may include at least one of activating a braking system,deactivating a speed control and temporarily setting the speed controlinto a coast mode.

Embodiments are directed to a method for driving control of a vehicle inmotion, the vehicle in motion having a global positioning system (GPS)receiver. The method includes receiving a signal from the GPS receiver;and automatically adjusting at least one driving parameter of thevehicle in motion based upon a signal from the GPS receiver.

According to embodiments, the method can further include emitting atleast one light pulse; detecting a light signal in response to theemitted at least one light pulse; and determining whether an object islocated in a path front of the vehicle in motion based upon the detectedlight signal.

In accordance with still other embodiments, the method can also includedetecting ambient conditions surrounding the vehicle in motion; andautomatically adjusting a speed of the vehicle in motion in response tothe detected ambient conditions.

In still further embodiments, the method can include automaticallydetermining whether an object is located in path front of the vehicle inmotion; calculating a target distance between the object and the vehiclein motion; and automatically adjusting the speed of the vehicle inmotion to maintain the target distance.

In other embodiments, a speed of the vehicle in motion can be determinedfrom the GPS receiver signal.

According to still other embodiments, the automatically adjusted atleast one driving parameter can include at least one of activating abraking system, deactivating a speed control and temporarily setting thespeed control into a coast mode.

Embodiments are directed to an automated driving control for a vehicle.The automated driving control includes a global positioning system (GPS)receiver; and a controller coupled to receive signals from the GPSreceiver. The controller is configured to automatically adjust at leastone driving parameter of the vehicle based upon a signal from the GPSreceiver.

In embodiments, the automated driving control can further include alight pulse emitter; a light detector arranged to receive a response tothe emitted at least one light pulse. The controller may be configuredto determine whether an object is located in a path front of the vehiclein motion based upon the detected light signal.

According to further embodiments, the controller can be configured todetect ambient conditions surrounding the vehicle in motion and toautomatically adjust a speed of the vehicle in response to the detectedambient conditions.

In accordance with other embodiments, the controller may be configuredto automatically determining whether an object is located in path frontof the vehicle in motion, to calculate a target distance between theobject and the vehicle and to automatically adjust the speed of thevehicle in motion to maintain the target distance.

According to still other embodiments, the controller can be configuredto determine a speed of the vehicle from the GPS receiver signal.

In accordance with still yet other embodiments of the present invention,the automatically adjusted at least one driving parameter may include atleast one of activating a braking system, deactivating a speed controland temporarily setting the speed control into a coast mode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is further described in the detailed descriptionthat follows, by reference to the noted drawings by way of non-limitingexamples of embodiments of the present invention, in which likereference numerals represent similar parts throughout the several viewsof the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary implementation of an aspect of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a mirror system accordingto an aspect of the invention;

FIG. 2B illustrates a further exemplary embodiment of the mirror systemof FIG. 2A, including an extending mechanism, according to an aspect ofthe invention;

FIG. 2C illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a rear-view mirror systemaccording to an aspect of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary display of a status of a plurality ofvehicle-mounted transducers;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a transducer controller(TC) according to an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary transducer element fault detectionprocess according to an aspect of the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary communication process according to anaspect of the invention; and

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary detection/notification process accordingto an aspect of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

An exemplary, non-limiting implementation of an aspect of the inventionis shown in FIG. 1. A vehicle 110 includes a transducer controller (TC)115 and a vehicle 130 includes a transducer controller (TC) 116. The TC115 may be installed in an engine compartment of the vehicle 110, asshown in FIG. 1. Alternatively, the TC 115 may be installed in any otherinternal or external area of the vehicle 110, including, for example,the passenger compartment, the trunk compartment (e.g., TC 116 invehicle 130) or the chassis of the vehicle, as the skilled artisan willappreciate, without departing from the scope and/or spirit of theinvention. The TC 115 may be installed in the vehicle 110 at the timethe vehicle 110 is manufactured, or it may be installed after thevehicle 110 has been fully assembled, such as, for example, as anafter-market product.

Although the vehicle 110 in FIG. 1 is depicted as an automobile, anytype of land-traversing, land-burrowing, water-traversing, submersible,or air-traversing vehicle may be installed with the present invention,including, but not limited to a truck, a bus, a sport utility vehicle,an all-terrain vehicle, a cross-over vehicle, a boat, a jet-ski, awave-runner, an aircraft, a motorcycle, a scooter, etc. Moreover, theinvention may be used in specialized vehicles, such as, for example, atunnel digging or burrowing vehicle, a back-hoe, a tractor, a trailer, asubmarine, a ship, a geotechnical tool, an environmental site assessmentand/or surveying tool, a spacecraft, and the like.

Further, the vehicle 110 includes a rear-mounted transducer array (RMT)120 (see, e.g., transducer elements 305-308 in FIG. 4) and afront-mounted transducer array (FMT) 125, which includes transducerselements (not shown) similar to the transducer elements 305-308 shown inFIG. 4. In the disclosed embodiment, the FMT array 125 is configured todetect an object 130 (e.g., shown as an automobile in FIG. 1) in adetection/notification area 150 using electromagnetic energy signals(incident signals). The RMT array 120 is configured to detect an object140 located within a detection/notificiation area 160, also usingelectromagnetic energy signals. However, it is understood that othertypes of detection systems, e.g., infrared, image analysis, etc., may beimplemented without departing from the scope and/or spirit of theinvention. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the object 130 isanother vehicle and the object 140 is a pedestrian. Moreover, the FMTarray 125 is further configured to generate a notification signal thatis manifestable in the detection/notification area 150, and the RMTarray 120 is further configured to generate a notification signal thatis manifestable in the detection/notification area 160.

Alternatively, or in addition to object detection, the RMT array 120and/or FMT array 125 may be configured to detect microwaves (such as,for example, X-band, K-band, Ka-band, Ku-band) and Laser signals. Thedetected signals are processed by the TC 115 and a message is generatedby the TC 115 and displayed on a display 250 (see FIG. 3) to the user ofthe vehicle 110. The message may be used, for example, to alert the userof the presence of emergency vehicles within a two-mile range from theFMT array 125 or RMT array 120. The message may include, but is notlimited to, for example, an identification of the type of emergencyvehicle (e.g., police vehicle, ambulance, fire-engine, etc.), anestimated distance to the emergency vehicle and an estimated time to theemergency vehicle at the current speed of travel of vehicle 110.Further, the message may also include an alert regarding forth-comingtraffic-signals, such as, but not limited to, for example, red-lightsignals, stop signs, yield signs, etc., by displaying an appropriatemessage indicating the existence of the red-traffic light (or stop sign,or yield sign, etc.) and an estimated distance to the traffic-light (orstop sign, or yield sign, etc.).

Although the exemplary implementation illustrates the vehicle 110 asincluding an FMT array 125 and a RMT array 120, the vehicle may beinstalled with only a single one of the FMT array 125 and the RMT array120. Furthermore, the vehicle 110 may be installed with additionaltransducer arrays that may be mounted on either side or both sides ofthe vehicle 110, under the vehicle 110 and/or on top of the vehicle 110,depending on an implementation of the invention. Furthermore, theinvention is not limited to four transducer elements in RMT array 120(or FMT array 125), but may include any number of transducer elements(e.g., more or less than four transducers), as the skilled artisan willreadily recognize and appreciate, without departing from the scopeand/or spirit of the invention.

For example, referring to FIG. 2A, according to a further aspect of theinvention, the vehicle 110 may be configured with at least oneretractable mirror system 201 a, that includes a mirror 202 a and amirror transducer (MT) array 203 a. The retractable mirror system 201 aselectively retracts into a body (not shown) of the vehicle 110, suchas, for example, by folding into a front-fender panel (not shown) and/orhood (not shown) of the vehicle 110. Once retracted into the body of thevehicle 110, an outer casing (not shown) of the mirror system 201 abecomes flush with the body of the vehicle 110. Additionally, the mirrorsystem 201 a may be operated either automatically or manually (e.g.,under control of the user of the vehicle 110), to retract into the bodyof the vehicle 110 or to extend from the body of the vehicle 110. Themirror system 201 a is positioned on the vehicle 110 such that the MTarray 203 a can detect objects in “blind-spots” of the vehicle 110,i.e., areas on a side of the vehicle 110 that may not otherwise beperceivable by the user of the vehicle 110 using only the mirrors on thevehicle 110.

According to a variation of the present invention, the mirror system 201a is configured to selectively extend outward from the body of thevehicle as depicted in FIG. 2B by means of an extending system 204. Themirror system 201 a may be extended outward from the body of the vehicle110 through control of the extending system 204 via an automated ormanual mechanism, as the skilled artisan will recognize and understand,without departing from the spirit and/or scope of the invention.

In still another variation of the present invention, the vehicle 110 isconfigured with a rear-view mirror system 201 c, as shown in FIG. 2C,including a mirror 202 c and a rear-view mirror transducer array 203 c,where the rear-view mirror transducer array 203 c is configured todetect objects in the “blind-spots” of the vehicle 110, i.e., areas onthe side of the vehicle 110 that may not otherwise be perceivable by theuser of the vehicle 110 using only, e.g., the mirrors 202 a and/or 203 con the vehicle 110. The rear-view mirror system 201 c may be located atany suitable location in the passenger compartment of the vehicle 110that facilitates viewing of objects located behind the vehicle 110 froma vantage point of the user (e.g., the driver). For example, therear-view mirror may be affixed to a windshield of the vehicle 110, orinner-roof of the vehicle 110, or any other location as the skilledartisan will appreciate, without departing from the spirit and/or scopeof the invention. The rear-view mirror transducer array 203 c is furtherconfigured to detect objects behind the vehicle 110, e.g., in a mannersimilar to that described herein for the RMT array 120.

Although three configurations, which are not mutually exclusive, but maybe used together, of the mirror systems 201 a and 201 c have beendescribed herein, the invention is in no way limited to these threeconfigurations. Rather, the present invention may be used with anyretractable or non-retractable mirror system and/or rear-view mirrorsystem capable of being configured with a transducer array, as theskilled artisan will readily appreciate, without departing from thespirit and/or scope of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the FMT array 125 and/or RMT array 120 may beconfigured with at least one port (not shown) having dry contacts forconnection to one or more peripheral devices that may be coupled to theTC 115 at a later time. The peripheral devices may include, but are notlimited to, for example, a wiring harness for a trailer, additionalLEDs, an additional sound generator, and/or the like.

The detection/notification areas 150 and/or 160 may vary based on aplurality of parameters of the vehicle 110. For example, the detectionareas may vary based on a drive mode (e.g., forward or reverse) of thevehicle 110, a traveling speed of the vehicle 110, a particular driverof the vehicle 110, an external light level, an external temperature, aglobal positioning satellite (GPS) position of the vehicle 110, and thelike. An exemplary manner in which the detection areas 150 and 160 areaffected by the parameters is described below.

For example, the length of a distance D1 from a centroid C_(FMT) of theFMT 125 to a centroid C₁ of the detection/notification area 150 varieslinearly as a function of a speed S of the vehicle 110, according to arelationship D1=S×k, where D1 is in feet (ft), S is in miles-per-hour(MPH) and k is a constant in feet-hour-per-mile (ft-hr/mi). In thepreferred embodiment, k=2 ft-hr/mi, so that, for example, when vehicle110 is traveling at a speed S of sixty miles-per-hour (60 MPH), D1 willbe set at one-hundred-twenty feet (120 ft). Also in the preferredembodiment, the constant k may be varied as a function of ambientconditions outside of the vehicle 110, so that the constant k isincreased in hazardous conditions, such as, for example, rain, snow,sleet, freezing temperatures, etc. It is understood that, rather thanthe United States system of measurement, the metric system may insteadbe employed, including the measures of meters and kilometers-per-hour.

Radius R1 of the detection area 150 may also be changed as a function ofthe speed S of the vehicle 110. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, radiusR1 of the detection area 150 may be linearly changed to R2 of thedetection area 150 a as an inverse function of the speed S of thevehicle 110, such that the faster vehicle 110 travels, the smaller theradius R1 of the detection area 150 becomes.

In FIG. 1, the world coordinate axis-X and axis-Y form a plane that isparallel to the figure, and the world coordinate axis-Z is perpendicularto the plane of the figure. The centroid C_(FMT) has world coordinatesX_(FMT), Y_(FMT), Z_(FMT), where X_(FMT) is perpendicular to bothY_(FMT) and Z_(FMT), and Y_(FMT) is perpendicular to X_(FMT) andZ_(FMT). Further, the centroid C1 has world coordinates X₁, Y₁, Z₁, andthe centroid C2 has world coordinates X₂, Y₂, Z₂. In the exampleillustrated in FIG. 1, world coordinates X₁=X₂=X_(FMT), Z₁=Z₂=Z_(FMT),Y₂=D2+Y_(FMT) and Y₁=D1+Y_(FMT). However, it is understood that thecoordinate values X_(FMT), Y_(FMT), Z_(FMT), X₁, Y₁, Z₁, X₂, Y₂ and Z₂may vary depending on a particular application, as the skilled artisanwill recognize and appreciate, without departing from the spirit and/orscope of the invention. For example, it is understood that thecoordinates of the centroid C1 may also vary (i.e., in addition tovarying as a function of the speed S of the vehicle 110) as a functionof the direction of travel of the vehicle 110, by, for example, trackingthe direction of the steering of the vehicle 110, as is known in thevehicle steering art.

According to the illustrative, but non-limiting example of FIG. 1, asthe vehicle 110 moves in a forward direction (e.g., moving from theright to the left of FIG. 1), the detection/notification area 150 islengthened to the detection/notification area 150 a, thereby sensingon-coming objects at much further distances, as well as manifesting asignal to the on-coming objects at further distances. Further, theradius R1 of the detection/notification area 150 may be reduced to aradius R2 for the detection/notification area 150 a in order to minimizethe possibility of sensing noise, such as, for example, objects alongthe perimeter of a roadway, as well as improving energy efficiency bymanifesting a notification signal in a narrower, more focuseddetection/notification area 150 a.

Furthermore, when the vehicle 110 is stationary, the FMT array 125 andRMT array 120, as well as any additional arrays (not shown) that may bemounted on the sides of the vehicle 110, may be coupled to an alarmsystem (not shown) of the vehicle 110 to detect objects that areintrusively close to or in contact with the vehicle 110. The alarmsystem may be configured to activate an alarm notification message, suchas, for example, by flashing lights, generating a high intensity soundand/or transmitting an alert signal to a remote device, such as, forexample, a mobile telephone when, for example, an object comes intocontact with the vehicle 110 or comes close to touching the vehicle 110.It is understood that the alarm system should preferably include atime-out feature and a reset feature so that the alarm notificationmessage will be ceased after a predetermined time has elapsed, such as,for example, thirty seconds.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary, non-limiting display of a status of theRMT array 120 and/or the FMT array 125. According to an aspect of thepreferred embodiment of the invention, the four display icons 205 athrough 208 a are displayed on a display 250 (shown in FIG. 4) ofvehicle 110, depicting a functional status for each of the correspondingtransducer elements 305 through 308 (in FIG. 4) of the RMT array 120.Four additional display icons 205 b through 208 b are also displayed onthe display 250 for the RMT array 120, depicting a status signal of anobject 140 (in FIG. 1) located proximate the vehicle 110. However, it isunderstood that similar icons, i.e., similar to display icons 205 athrough 208 a and 205 b through 208 b, may also be displayed on display250 of the vehicle 110 for the FMT array 125. The exemplary displayicons 205 a through 208 a each have an elliptical shape, and theadditional display icons 205 b through 208 b each have a bar shape, butare not limited in any way to an elliptical and/or bar shape, as theskilled artisan will recognize, without departing from the scope and/orspirit of the invention.

In the illustrative embodiment, the display icons 205 a through 208 a,which are configured as, but not limited to elliptical shapes, display afunctional status of a corresponding transducer element 305 through 308(shown in FIG. 4), respectively. The display icons 205 a, 206 a and 208a are depicted as showing a normal operational status for correspondingtransducer elements 305, 306 and 308. Meanwhile, display icon 207 a isdepicted as showing a malfunctioning operational status forcorresponding transducer element 307. In other words, display icons 205a, 206 a and 208 a indicate that transducer elements 305, 306 and 308are functioning in a prescribed manner, but display icon 207 a indicatesthat transducer element 307 is not functioning in a prescribed mannerand may require inspection and/or remedial attention, such as, forexample, replacement.

The illustrated display icons 205 b through 208 b, which are configuredas, but not limited to bar-shapes, display a sensory output signal fromthe corresponding transducer elements 305 through 308 (shown in FIG. 4).The sensory output signal may correspond to a status of an object or astatus of an ambient condition detected by at least one of thetransducer elements 305 through 308. For example, referring to FIG. 1,the status of object 140 may be detected by the transducer elements 305through 308, which would be included in the RMT array 120. The detectedstatus may include, for example, such attributes as a distance to theobject 140 from the RMT array 120, a temperature of the object 140, amaterial composition of the object 140, a gas emitted from the object140, an ionizing radiation emitted by the object 140, and the like. Thedetected status may also include a status of ambient conditions withinthe detection areas 150 and/or 160, including, for example, atemperature of the gas and/or liquid, a composition of the gas and/orliquid, an ionization radiation emanating from the gas and/or liquid,and the like.

Although the exemplary display icons 205 a through 208 a and 205 bthrough 208 b are shown as elliptical and bar-shaped icons in FIG. 3,respectively, the shape of the display icons is in no way limited toellipses and/or bar-shapes. Rather, the display icons 205 a through 208a may each be configured as, for example, a circle, a rectangle, atriangle, a three-dimensional sphere, a three-dimensional square, athree-dimensional pyramid, an alphanumeric character(s), or anycombination of a circle, a rectangle, a triangle, a three-dimensionalsphere, a three-dimensional square, a three-dimensional pyramid and/oran alphanumeric character(s) as the skilled artisan will readilyrecognize and appreciate, without departing from the scope and/or spiritof the invention. Furthermore, the display icons 205 a through 208 a and205 b through 208 b may be superimposed on a display of a moving imageof the detection areas 150 and/or 160, which is captured by the imagepick-up sensor 270 (shown in FIG. 4).

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary controller 235 used with the transducercontroller (TC) 115 shown in FIG. 1. The controller 235 includes arandom access memory (RAM) 222, a read-only memory (ROM) 224, aninput/output (I/O) interface 226, a processor 220, a database 228, adiagnostic engine 225, a transducer driver 227 and a bus 221. In thepreferred embodiment, each of the RAM 222, ROM 224, I/O 226, processor220, database 228, diagnostic engine 225 and transducer 227 is connectedto the bus 221 via a wired lead and/or conductive trace 223. The RAM222, ROM 224, I/O 226, processor 220, database 228, diagnostic engine225, transducer 227, bus 221 and conductive traces 223 may be formed ona single board 230, as shown in FIG. 4, or on multiple boards. Thecontroller 235 is enclosed in a casing made of a material, such as, forexample, aluminum, which is resistant to high temperatures, highmoisture and large vibrations, as may be experienced within the vehicle110.

The controller 235 is coupled to a power source V_(cc) (such as, but notlimited to, for example, the vehicle's 110 operating battery, which maybe a six-volt direct current (6V DC), a twelve-volt direct current (12VDC), an eighteen-volt direct current (18V DC) or a twenty-four-voltdirect current (24V DC) power source), an on-board computer 240, adisplay 250, an interface 260 and an image pick-up sensor 270 via wiredleads 212, or, alternatively, via wireless interfaces. The controller235 is further coupled to a notifier 280, a transceiver 290 andtransducer elements 305 through 308 via wired leads 210, oralternatively, via wireless interfaces. In this regard, the transducerelements 305 through 308 may be coupled to the controller 235 throughwireless links, such as, for example, optical or electromagneticfrequency communications devices (for example, infrared diodetransceivers, radio frequency transceivers, etc.).

The display 250 may be, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), alight emitting diode (LED) display, a plasma display panel (PDP), anorganic light emitting diode (OLED) display, a surface-conductionelectron-emitter display (SED), a carbon nanotube (CNT), a nanocrystaldisplay (NCD), or cathode ray tube (CRT), and/or the like. Moreover, thedisplay device may include user-mounted devices such as, for example, ahead-mount display, and/or a three-dimensional display such as, forexample, a holographic display. Further, the display 250 may be aportable computer device, such as, for example, a personal dataassistant (PDA), a telephone device, a portable music player, a portablegame device, or any other portable computer device capable of displayingstill and/or moving images, which may be coupled to the controller 235via a wired or wireless communication link. The display 250 mayoptionally include audio speakers (not shown), integrally configured inthe display 250.

The display 250 receives display signals from the controller 235 and theimage pick-up sensor 270. The display 250 displays images of objectsthat are captured in the detection/notification areas 150 and/or 160(shown in FIG. 1) by the image pick-up sensor 270. The display 250 alsodisplays transducer display icon images superimposed on the capturedimages, which are generated by processor 220. The transducer displayicon images include the display icons 205 a through 208 a and 205 bthrough 208 b (shown in FIG. 3), discussed above.

Additionally, the display 250 is configured to display notificationsignals generated by the processor 220 in response to receivedcommunication signals from transceiver 290. For example, the transceiver290 may receive a communication signal from another transceiver 290located in another vehicle. The communication signal may be an arbitrarymessage input by the user of the other vehicle (e.g., via a userinterface 260 located in the other vehicle), or a notification messagegenerated by a controller 235 located in the other vehicle.

Referring to FIG. 1, for example, the controller 235 of FIG. 4 (includedin the TC 116 of vehicle 130 in FIG. 1) is located in the vehicle 130and generates a notification message that notifies the vehicle 110, viathe transceiver 290 (of FIG. 4) that is located in vehicle 130, that thevehicle 110 is too close to vehicle 130 and that the vehicle 110 shouldslow down. In generating the notification message, the controller 235considers, for example, ambient conditions, such as, for example,whether it is raining, or whether the temperature is below freezing, soas to determine a proper following distance for vehicle 110. Inresponse, depending on the particular configurations for the controller235 set by the user of vehicle 110, the vehicle 110 may automaticallydecelerate and/or apply the vehicle's brakes to slow down the vehicle110, and/or a warning message to slow down may be displayed to the userof vehicle 110 via display 250.

In the controller 235, the I/O interface 226 functions as a gateway forall data and all instructions input or output from the controller 235.The RAM 222 functions as a working memory for the controller 235. TheROM 224 stores non-varying data and instructions, such as, for example,firmware, look-up-tables (LUTs), and the like. The database 228 storeslogging and reporting information, such as, for example, historicalstatus information for each of the transducer elements 305 through 308.The diagnostic engine 225 monitors various attributes for each of thetransducer elements 305 through 308, such as, for example, whether anyone of the transducer elements is malfunctioning. The transducer driver227 drives the transducer elements 305 through 308, the image pick-upsensor 270, the transceiver 290 and the notifier 280, the vehicle speedcontrol (not shown) and the vehicle braking system (not shown), asdiscussed below with regard to FIG. 5.

The on-board computer 240, which is typically mounted by vehiclemanufacturers in the passenger compartment of vehicles under thepassenger-side of the dashboard, provides status information to thecontroller 235 for various parameters for the vehicle 110. The statusinformation provided by the on-board computer 240 includes, but is notlimited to, for example, the vehicle speed S at which the vehicle 110 istraveling, the drive mode of the vehicle (i.e., reverse mode or forwardmode), the ambient temperature and moisture outside the vehicle 110, theglobal positioning satellite (GPS) coordinates of the vehicle 110, andthe like.

Alternatively, if the vehicle 110 is not equipped with an on-boardcomputer 240, a self-contained computer (not shown), which may or maynot include a GPS receiver, may be implemented, as is known in the art,and coupled to the controller 235, as the skilled artisan willunderstand, without departing from the spirit and/or scope of theinvention.

The user interface 260 receives user instructions for modifyingparameters of the controller 235, the display 250, the image pick-upsensor 270, the notifier 280, the transceiver 290 and the transducerelements 305 through 308. Although shown as a separate component, theuser interface 260 may be configured as an integral part of the display250, such as, for example, a touch-screen display panel.

The image pick-up sensor 270 is configured to capture moving and/orstill images of objects within the detection/notification area 150and/or 160 (shown in FIG. 1) and to provide the captured images to theprocessor 220. The image pick-up sensor 270 senses electromagneticenergy signals and captures images within the infrared and visible lightspectrum (i.e., wavelengths in the range of 380 nm to 1 mm) The capturedimages are processed by the processor 220 and displayed on the display250. The image pick-up sensor 270 may be mounted on the front of thevehicle 110, for example, proximate to the FMT array 125, and/or theback of the vehicle 110, for example, proximate to the RMT array 120(shown in FIG. 1). The image pick-up sensor 270 is capable of capturingstill and/or moving images that may be stored long term in database 228.In accordance with a received instruction from the user via userinterface 260, the captured images may be stored in the database 228 inreal-time or after annotation of the captured images by the user via theinterface 260.

It is understood that depending on the application of the invention, theimage pick-up sensor 270 may be configured to capture images in theultraviolet, infrared, and/or x-ray electromagnetic spectrums.

The notifier 280 is a transducer element that manifests a visible and/oraudible message outside of the vehicle 110. The notifier 280 mayinclude, for example, an illuminator, such as, for example, a liquidcrystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display, a plasmadisplay panel (PDP), an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, asurface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), a carbon nanotube(CNT), a nanocrystal display (NCD), a cathode ray tube (CRT), and/or thelike. The notifier 280 may be located in the vehicle 110 or external tothe vehicle 110. For example, the notifier 280 may be configured as atranslucent display mounted on the rear window (not shown) of thevehicle 110, or used in place of the rear window of the vehicle 110.Moreover, the notifier 280 may be configured as a set of, for example,LEDs mounted in the FMT array 125 and/or the RMT array 120 (shown inFIG. 1).

Furthermore, the notifier 280 may additionally (or alternatively)include an audible signal generator, such as, for example, a speaker,that generates signals ranging in frequency from, for example, 10 Hz to25 kHz, where the frequency of the generated signals increases inverselyproportionate to the distance, for example, from the vehicle 110 to theobject 140 (shown in FIG. 1). Thus, as the distance between the vehicle110 and the object 140 decreases, the frequency of the generated audiblesignal increases. The amplitude of the audible signal generated by thenotifier 280 also increases inversely proportionate to the distancebetween the vehicle 110 and the object 280, so that the generatedaudible signal will become louder as the distance between the vehicle110 and the object 140 decreases. Additionally, the amplitude and/or thefrequency of the generated audible signal may differ amongst the varioustransducer elements 305 through 308 on the basis of the distance of eachparticular transducer element from the object; such that, the transducerelement, e.g., transducer element 306, closest to the object 140 (shownin FIG. 1), will generate the loudest and highest frequency signal ofthe four exemplary transducer elements 305 through 308. The notifier280, including the audible generator, may be located in the FMT array125 and/or the RMT array 120, or any other location of the vehicle 110practical for generating an audible signal that will be manifestedoutside of the vehicle 110, as the skilled artisan will recognize andappreciate, without departing from the spirit and/or scope of theinvention.

According to the preferred embodiment, the notifier 280 operates undercontrol of the processor 220 (the message generator) and/or transducerdriver 227. The range of frequencies for the signals generated by thenotifier 280 includes frequencies perceivable by only animals (nothumans), as well as frequencies perceivable by both animals and humans.According to an aspect of the invention, the notifier 280 generatessignals within a frequency range only perceptible to animals, such as,for example, a deer, a skunk, a bear, a raccoon, an opossum, a cat, adog, a squirrel, and the like, so that the notifier 280 may function todeter animals from a path of the vehicle 110. The frequencies of thesignals generated by the notifier 280 are controllable by the user viathe interface 260 (in FIG. 4). Furthermore, the amplitude of the signalsgenerated by the notifier 280 are increased as a function of the speed Sof the vehicle 110, so that the faster vehicle 110 travels, the greaterthe magnitude of the signal generated by the notifier 280.

In the preferred embodiment, the transducer elements 305 through 308 areeach identical in structure and function. However, as the skilledartisan will recognize, the transducer elements 305 through 308 may havedifferent structures that perform different functions. Referring to, forexample, transducer element 305, the transducer element includes an LED320 (shown as the shaded region in FIG. 4) surrounding a proximitysensor 330. The LED 320 is controlled by the transducer driver 227, asdiscussed below. Moreover, the LED 320 may include any color LED in thevisible spectrum, including, for example, red, blue, green, yellow,orange, violet, purple, etc.

The transceiver 290 is configured to communicate with a similartransceiver located in another vehicle, which is also equipped with a TC115 (shown in FIG. 1), including another transceiver 290 and anothercontroller 235. The transceiver 290 includes a radio-frequency (RF)transmitter and a radio-frequency (RF) receiver. Alternatively, aninfra-red (IR) transmitter and an infra-red (IR) receiver may be usedinstead of the RF transmitter-receiver pair. The skilled artisan willreadily recognize that any transmitter-receiver pair capable ofcommunicating signals across a predetermined distance, such as, but notlimited to, for example, greater than 200 feet, may be used for thetransceiver 290, without departing from the spirit and/or scope of theinvention.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary transducer element fault detectionprocess that is carried out by the processor 220 according to an aspectof the invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the controller 235 is supplied with a power supplysignal V_(cc) at step 410 when, for example, a user of the vehicle 110activates the vehicle by, for example, turning an ignition key to an ONposition, depressing an ON button, inputting an activate instruction inthe interface 260, or the like.

The controller 235 detects the status of a first transducer element n,for example, transducer element 305, at step 420. In this regard, thecontroller 235 may detect a received voltage signal from transducerelement n and compare the received voltage signal to a predeterminedrange of acceptable voltage values. Alternatively, the transducerelement n may be a smart device that performs a self-diagnosis processand provides a health status signal to the controller 235, indicatingwhether the transducer element is healthy.

The controller 235 determines, at step 430, whether the transducerelement n is functioning properly by, for example, comparing thereceived voltage signal to a predetermined range of acceptable values,or by comparing a received health status signal to a set of values inthe look-up-table (LUT) that is stored in the ROM 224. If the controller235 determines that the transducer element n is functioning properly(“YES” at step 430), then the controller 235 logs the results of thestatus check of step 420 and the determination of step 430 in thedatabase 228, including the identity of the particular transducerelement n, e.g., transducer element 305, a flag indicating a healthystatus, a flag indicating a functioning status, and a time stampindicating the time at which the status check was performed.

The controller 235 then increments the transducer element n to n+1 atstep 445, thereby proceeding to the next transducer element, e.g.,transducer element 306. At step 450, a determination is made as towhether all of the transducer elements, e.g., transducer elements 305through 308, in the FMT array 125 and/or RMT array 120 have beenchecked. If a determination is made that all of the transducer elementshave not been checked (“NO” at step 450), the process returns to step420 and the next transducer element in FMT array 125 and/or RMT array120 is checked. If a determination is made that all of the transducerelements have been checked (“YES” at step 450), the process ends.

If the controller 235 determines at step 430 that the transducer elementn is not functioning properly (“NO” at step 430), then the controller235 sends a message signal, via communication link 212, to display 250to cause, for example, the display icon 207 a, to be displayed, at step460. The controller 235 then sends a message manifest signal (step 470)to, for example, the LED 320 on transducer element 307 and/or thenotifier 280, causing the LED 320 to emit a light having a predeterminedcolor indicative of a malfunctioning transducer element, such as, forexample, a red light, and/or causing the notifier 280 to generate anaudible signal indicating a malfunctioning transducer. The audiblesignal may include, for example, a voice alert generated by a speechsynthesizer. The controller 235 then logs the results of the statuscheck of step 420 and the determination of step 430, at step 440, in thedatabase 228, including the identity of the particular transducerelement n, e.g., transducer element 305, a flag indicating an unhealthystatus, a flag indicating a non-functioning status, a time stampindicating the time at which the status check was performed and an errorcode indicating a probable cause for the malfunction of the transducerelement n. The process then ends.

Although the sequence for the process of FIG. 5 is shown such that step460 precedes step 470, the sequence is only exemplary. The skilledartisan will understand that the sequence of, for example, the steps 460and 470 may be carried out in any manner, including a parallel,simultaneous execution for both steps of the process.

Further, a fault detection program may be provided on a computerreadable medium for carrying out the above discussed fault detectionprocess. As the skilled artisan will readily understand, the faultdetection program includes a code section for carrying out each of steps410 through 470, discussed above.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary communication process carried out by thecontroller 235, according to an aspect of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, a user input is received via interface 260 at step510. The received user input may include a setup instruction, such as,for example, an instruction to adjust the sensitivity of the FMT array125 and/or RMT array 120, or a particular transducer element in the FMTarray 125 and/or RMT array 120, or an instruction to adjust a parameterof the image pick-up sensor 270 (such as, for example, a night-visionmode or a day-light vision mode, white balance, color temperature,brightness, contrast, image stabilization, image tracking, and thelike), or an instruction to adjust a parameter of the display 250 (suchas, for example, an input video source, contrast, brightness,aspect-ratio, and the like), or an instruction to adjust a parameter ofthe notifier 280 (such as, for example, whether to generate an audiblesound signal, a particular type of sound signal to be generated, anamplitude and/or frequency of the sound signal to be generated, a colorof a particular LED 320 to be illuminated, an externally visible messageto be displayed on an externally mounted display (not shown), and thelike), or an instruction to adjust a parameter of the transceiver 290(such as, for example, a particular vehicle 130 to be communicated with,a carrier frequency to be used for external communication, and thelike), or an instruction to adjust a parameter of the transducer driver227 (such as, for example, an installation of a peripheral device to becoupled to, for example, dry contacts provided in the FMT array 125and/or RMT array 120, an automatic brake system control mode, a manualbrake system control mode, a speed control mode, and the like), or aninstruction to adjust a parameter of the diagnostic engine 225 (such as,for example, a selection instruction to select a particular component tobe diagnosed, including the image pick-up sensor 270, the display 250,the on-board computer 240, the transducer elements 305 through 308, thetransducer driver 227, the transceiver 290 and/or the notifier 280). Itis understood, however, that user input instructions received by theinterface 260 are in no way limited to the above mentioned instructions.Rather, a user may input any instruction (via, for example, interface260, which may be formed integrally with the display 250) to control anynecessary parameter of the controller 235, the on-board computer 240,the display 250, the image pick-up sensor 270, the notifier 280, thetransceiver 290 and/or the transducer elements 305 through 308 to carryout an application of the invention, as the skilled artisan willrecognize, without departing from the spirit and/or scope of theinvention.

Furthermore, the received input at step 510 may include any arbitrarymessage, such as, for example, a textual message (such as, e.g., avisual alert signal), an audible message (such as, e.g., an audiblealert signal) and/or a visual message that the user of vehicle 110desires to send to the user of vehicle 130 (shown in FIG. 1).

The received user input containing, e.g., a message and/or aninstruction, is displayed on display 250 at step 520. A determination ismade at step 530 as to whether the received user input is an instructionor a message to be sent to another vehicle. If it is determined that thereceived user input is a message to be sent to another vehicle (“YES” atstep 530), then the controller 235 causes the display 250 to display alisting of vehicles within a communication range of the transceiver 290,at step 540. At step 550, a user selection is received for a particularvehicle (from the vehicle listing displayed at step 540) to which theuser wishes to send the message. The message is then sent to theselected vehicle and logged into the database 228 at step 560, includingthe particular message, a time stamp when the message was sent, thevehicle to which the message was sent, and the like. After the messageis sent and the related information logged into the database 228, theprocess ends.

A determination of the specific vehicles that are within range may bemade, for example, by detecting, for example, a thirty-two-bitidentifier that is broadcast by the transceiver 290 of each vehicleequipped with the invention. The identifier may be attainable through afee-for-service arrangement with a service provider that allows a userto retrieve (e.g., using transceiver 290) and download a look-up-table,including, for example, license plate numbers correlated to specificthirty-two-bit identifiers, into RAM 222 and/or ROM 224.

If a determination is made that the received user input at step 510 isnot a message to be sent to another vehicle (“NO” at step 530), then, atstep 570, the controller 235 determines whether the received user inputis an instruction to adjust a parameter of at least one of the followingcomponents: the on-board computer 240, the display 250, the interface260, the image pick-up sensor 270, the diagnostic engine 225, thetransducer driver 227, the notifier 280, the transceiver 290 and/or thetransducer elements 305 through 308. If a determination is made that thereceived user input is an instruction to adjust a parameter of at leastone of the above components (“YES” at step 570), then the instruction isprocessed by processor 220 and a further instruction is sent to theappropriate component instructing an adjustment of the parameter and theadjusting settings are stored in the database 228 at step 580. Forexample, the received user input may include an instruction to activatethe LED 320 on any one or more of the transducer elements 305 through308 each time the vehicle 110 is placed in a reverse mode. The processor220 will generate a further instruction, based on the received userinput, and send the further instruction to, e.g., the transducer 227 toactivate the LED 320 to illuminate a white light on the one or moretransducer elements 305 through 308 each time the vehicle 110 is placedin a reverse mode. After the further instruction is sent to theappropriate component(s) and the settings stored in the database 228 atstep 580, the process ends.

However, if a determination is made by the controller 235 that thereceived user input is not an instruction to adjust a parameter of atleast one of the above components (“NO” at step 570), then the processends.

A communication program may be provided on a computer readable mediumfor carrying out the above discussed communication process. As theskilled artisan will readily understand, the setup program includes acode section for carrying out each of steps 510 through 580, discussedabove.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary detection/notification process that iscarried out by the controller 235, according to an aspect of theinvention. The exemplary detection/notification process depicted in FIG.7 will be described with reference to, but not limited to, the exemplaryapplication shown in FIG. 1 and the controller 235 shown in FIG. 3. Inorder to simplify the description, the process is described from thevantage point of the vehicle 110. It is understood, however, that thesame process described below may be carried out in vehicle 130, whenequipped with the TC 116, including the controller 235 described above,or any other vehicle equipped with the invention that is within range ofcommunication with vehicle 110.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 7, the vehicle 110, which is equipped withthe transducer controller (TC) 115, detects a distance D to the object140 and a distance D1 to the vehicle 130 (which is equipped with the TC116) at step 610, via RMT array 120 and FMT array 125, respectively. Inthe preferred embodiment, each of the RMT array 120 and FMT array 125include at least one laser and at least one light detector. According tothe preferred embodiment, the laser in the FMT array 125 generatespulsed laser signals that are reflected by the vehicle 130, which ispositioned in the laser trajectory as shown in FIG. 1. The reflectedlaser signals are detected by the light detector included in the FMTarray 125 and the distance D1 to the vehicle 130, as well as a speed S₂at which the vehicle 130 is traveling, where S₂ is in units ofmiles-per-hour (MPH), is calculated by the controller 235. A similarprocess occurs with regard to the object 140 and the vehicle 110 usingthe RMT array 120.

Although a laser range finding system is implemented in the preferredembodiment of the invention, the skilled artisan will readily appreciatethat any range finding mechanism may be used instead, including, forexample, sonar, infrared, microwave, or the like, without departing fromthe spirit and/or scope of the invention.

The ambient conditions surrounding the vehicle 110 are next determinedat step 620. The determination may be made, for example, by thecontroller 235 sending a remote procedure call (RPC) instructions to theon-board computer 240, instructing the on-board computer 240 to detectambient conditions, such as, for example, external/internal temperatureand/or internal/external moisture content, using existing temperatureand moisture sensors (not shown) on the vehicle 110. The determinationmay also be made, for example, by querying the on-board computer 240 forthe ambient condition data, as is known in the art.

Once the ambient conditions have been detected, the controller 235detects the speed S of the vehicle 110 at step 630. The speed S may bedetected, for example, by the controller 235 sending a remote procedurecall (RPC) instruction to the on-board computer 240, instructing theon-board computer 240 to detect the speed S for the vehicle 110, or byquerying the on-board computer 240 for the speed S of the vehicle 110,as is known in the art. Alternatively, the controller 235 may beprovided with an on-board GPS receiver (as mentioned earlier) that canprovide a speed S for the vehicle 110, as is known in the art.

The controller 235, using the detected distance D1 to the vehicle 130,the detected speed S at which the vehicle 110 is traveling, the detectedspeed S₂ at which the vehicle 130 is traveling, and the detected ambientconditions, determines a target distance AD that should be maintainedbetween the vehicle 110 and the vehicle 130. In order to increaseprocessor efficiency, the determination of the target distance AD may bemade by referring to a look-up-table stored in the ROM 224 of thecontroller 235 using the detected speed and ambient conditioninformation.

Alternatively, the processor 220 may determine the target distance ADaccording to the relationship D=S×k, where D is in feet (ft), S is inmiles-per-hour (MPH) of the vehicle 110 and k is a predeterminedconstant in feet-hour-per-mile (ft-hr/mi), where k varies between, butnot limited to, for example, approximately 0.5 ft-hr/mi andapproximately 10 ft-hr/mi, depending on ambient conditions. In thepreferred embodiment k=2 ft-hr/mi when the temperature is above freezingand there is no precipitation. However, the determination of the targetdistance AD is not limited to the above relationship, but may bedetermined according to any method deemed appropriate by the skilledartisan, depending on the particular application, without departing fromthe spirit and/or scope of the invention.

The controller 235 compares the detected distance D1 with the targetdistance AD at step 650. If it is determined that the detected distanceD1 is greater than, or equal to the target distance AD (“YES” at step650), the process ends, otherwise a message is displayed on the display250 of the vehicle 110 at step 655 (“NO” at step 650). The displayedmessage may include, for example, a textual message notifying the userof vehicle 110 that the vehicle 110 is dangerously close to the vehicle130 and that user should slow down, change lanes to avoid a collision,or take some other remedial action. It is understood that in addition,or instead of a displayed message, an audio message may be generatedvia, for example, the existing speaker system (not shown) in thevehicle, instructing the user to slow down, change lanes, or take someother remedial action.

After the message is displayed at step 655, the controller 235determines at step 660 whether the detected vehicle 130 (or object) istraveling in the same direction as the vehicle 110. If it is determinedthat vehicle 110 is traveling in the same direction as the vehicle 130(“YES” at step 660), then a determination is made at step 670 whethercommunication is possible with the vehicle 130 via, for example,transceiver 290. However, if a determination is made that the vehicle110 is not traveling in the same direction as the vehicle 130 (“NO” atstep 660), then a determination is made whether the vehicle 110 is in areverse mode at step 665.

In determining the direction of travel of the vehicle 130 in step 660,the radius R1 is decreased as the speed of the vehicle 110 increases,minimizing the probability of sensing on-coming traffic. Moreover, thecontroller 235 is provided with a city mode, a rural mode and a highwaymode. When the controller 235 is set to the city mode or rural mode, theconstant k may be set to, e.g., 0.5 ft-hr/mi. However, when thecontroller 235 is set to the highway mode, the constant k may be set to,e.g., 2 ft-hr/mi.

If the controller 235 determines that the vehicle 110 is in a reversemode (“YES” at step 665), then the controller causes the notifier 280and/or transducer elements 305 through 308 to generate a manifestmessage at step 680, otherwise, at step 670, the controller determineswhether communication is possible with vehicle 130 (“NO” at step 665).The generated manifest message may include a textual, audio and/orvisual message generated by the notifier 280 and/or transducer 305through 308.

For example, in the case where the notifier 280 includes a displaydevice (not shown), such as, for example, an LED or LCD display mountedon the rear of the vehicle 110, a textual message, such as, for example,“WARNING” may be displayed on the display device. Additionally, anaudible signal may be generated by the notifier 280, which varies inamplitude and/or frequency depending on the distance between the vehicle110 and the object (e.g., object 140 in FIG. 1). Moreover, thetransducer elements 305 through 308 may be driven by the transducerdriver 227 to illuminate (e.g., the LED 320 located in each of thetransducer elements 305 through 308) in a predetermined color, or in apredetermined range of colors, where the illuminated, e.g., LED 320varies in color based on the distance between the vehicle 110 and theobject. The predetermined color and/or range of colors may be set by theuser via interface 260.

If the controller 235 determines that communication is possible with thevehicle 130 (“YES” at step 670), then the controller 235, at step 675,causes a message to be sent via transceiver 290 to a correspondingtransceiver (not shown) in the vehicle 130, otherwise the controller 235determines whether an auto-response mode has been selected by the userof the vehicle 110, at step 685. The sent message instructs acorresponding controller (not shown) in the vehicle 130, to act as anagent for the controller 235 in the vehicle 110, and to cause a notifier(not shown) in the vehicle 130 and/or a RMT array (not shown) in thevehicle 130 to manifest a message at step 680. As noted earlier, themanifest message may be, for example, a textual message, such as, forexample, the textual display “WARNING” displayed on a display device(not shown) mounted on the rear of the vehicle 130. Additionally (oralternatively), the manifest message may be, for example, the RMT arrayon the vehicle 130 being caused to illuminate various color lights.After the manifest message has been generated at step 680, thecontroller 235 determines whether an auto-response mode has beenselected by the user of the vehicle 110, at step 685.

If the controller determines that an auto-response mode has beenselected by the user (“YES” at step 685), then the controller 235executes remedial actions at step 690 and returns to step 610, otherwisethe process ends. The remedial actions may include, for example,activating the braking system on the vehicle 110 to gradually slow thevehicle down until the detected distance D1 between the vehicle 130 andthe vehicle 110 is greater than, or equal to the target distance AD(“YES” at step 650). Additionally, the remedial action may include,deactivating a speed control on the vehicle 110, or temporarily settingthe speed control on the vehicle 110 to a “coast” mode until thedetected distance D1 is greater than, or equal to the target distanceAD. It is understood that the remedial actions may be overridden by theuser of the vehicle 110 via interface 260 or by manual actuation of thebraking system and/or accelerating system on the vehicle 110.

A detection/notification program may be provided on a computer readablemedium for carrying out the above discussed setup process. As theskilled artisan will readily understand, the setup program includes acode section for carrying out each of the steps 610 through 690,discussed above.

In alternative embodiments, dedicated hardware implementations for thecontroller 235, such as, for example, application specific integratedcircuits (ASIC's), programmable logic arrays (PLA's) and other hardwaredevices, can be constructed to implement one or more of the methodsdescribed herein. Applications that may include various embodiments canbroadly include a variety of electronic and computer systems. One ormore embodiments described herein may implement functions using two ormore specific interconnected hardware modules or devices with relatedcontrol and data signals that can be communicated between and throughthe modules, or as portions of an application-specific integratedcircuit. Accordingly, the present system encompasses software, firmware,and hardware implementations.

The methods described herein may be implemented by software programsexecutable by a computer system. Further, in an exemplary, non-limitedembodiment, implementations can include distributed processing,component/object distributed processing, and parallel processing.Alternatively, virtual computer system processing can be constructed toimplement one or more of the methods or functionality as describedherein.

The term “computer-readable medium” includes a single medium or multiplemedia, such as a centralized or distributed database, and/or associatedcaches and servers that store one or more sets of instructions. The term“computer-readable medium” shall also include any medium that is capableof storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution bya processor, or that cause a computer system to perform any one or moreof the methods or operations disclosed herein.

The computer-readable medium may further include a solid-state memory,such as a memory card, that houses one or more non-volatile read-onlymemories. Further, the computer-readable medium can be a random accessmemory or other volatile re-writable memory. Additionally, thecomputer-readable medium can include a magneto-optical or opticalmedium, such as a disc or tape or other storage device to capturecarrier wave signals such as a signal communicated over a transmissionmedium. A digital file attachment to an e-mail or other self-containedinformation archive or set of archives may be considered a distributionmedium that is equivalent to a tangible storage medium. Accordingly, thedisclosure is considered to include any one or more of acomputer-readable medium or a distribution medium and other equivalentsand successor media, in which data or instructions may be stored.

Although the invention has been described with reference to severalexemplary embodiments, it is understood that the words that have beenused are words of description and illustration, rather than words oflimitation. Changes may be made within the purview of the appendedclaims, as presently stated and as amended, without departing from thescope and spirit of the invention in its aspects. Although the inventionhas been described with reference to particular means, materials andembodiments, the invention is not intended to be limited to theparticulars disclosed; rather, the invention extends to all functionallyequivalent structures, methods, and uses such as are within the scope ofthe appended claims.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the invention is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Accordingly, replacement standards and protocols having thesame functions are considered equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. Apparatus for assisting in the driving of a givenvehicle in motion, the apparatus comprising memory and a processor, theprocessor being configured and interoperable with the memory, atransducer driver, and the given vehicle's driving control system, tocause; driving of an object transducer carried by the given vehicle inorder to detect another moving vehicle in a detection area at adetection distance away from the given vehicle; receiving notificationmessages sent from other vehicles, the notification messages including atoo close notification message sent from one of the other vehicles;determining, based at least in part on the too close notificationmessage sent from the one of the other vehicles, when the given vehicleis positioned in relation to the other moving vehicle such that thegiven vehicle should be driven differently; and the given vehicleautomatically taking remedial action upon the determination that thegiven vehicle is too close to the other moving vehicle.
 2. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the given vehicle is an automobile.
 3. Theapparatus according to claim 2, further comprising the transducer driverand the object transducer.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 2,wherein the remedial action includes slowing the speed of the givenvehicle.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the remedialaction is taken based on the detected distance to the other movingvehicle.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the remedialaction is based on the too close notification message sent from the oneof the other vehicles.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 2, whereinthe notification message is communicated from the other moving vehicleto the given vehicle via transceivers in the other moving and givenvehicles.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the too closedistance is a distance where the detection distance is less than atarget distance that should be maintained between the other movingvehicle and the given vehicle when each of the other moving vehicle andthe given vehicle is being driven in the same direction.
 9. Theapparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the remedial action istaken, the given vehicle's driving control system is controlled so thatthe given vehicle's brakes are automatically applied to slow down thegiven vehicle.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein whenremedial action is taken, the given vehicle's driving control system iscontrolled so that the given vehicle is automatically decelerated. 11.The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the remedial action istaken, the given vehicle's control system is controlled so that avisible warning message is displayed on a display viewable by a user ofthe given vehicle.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein theprocessor is configured to cause capturing and storing images of objectswithin the detection area in a long term database.
 13. The apparatusaccording to claim 12, wherein as the images are captured, they arestored, in real time, in a long term database,
 14. The apparatusaccording to claim 13, wherein the captured images are annotated by auser via a user interface, and stored in the long term database with theannotations.
 15. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein thetransducer comprises an array of object detecting transducers mounted toa front of the vehicle.
 16. The apparatus according to claim 2, whereinthe object detecting transducer includes at least one laser and at leastone light detector, the laser generating pulsed laser signals reflectedby the object when the object is positioned in a trajectory of thepulsed laser signals, and the reflected pulsed laser signals then beingdetected by the light detector.
 17. The apparatus according to claim 2,wherein the object detecting transducer includes an image analysisdetection system including plural image detection transducer elements.18. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the image analysisdetection system is mounted on the front of the given vehicle andincludes four image detection transducer elements.
 19. Computer-readablemedia encoded with a computer program, the program, when executed with aprocessor and memory coupled to drivers in a given vehicle, causing:driving of an object transducer carried by the given vehicle in order todetect another moving vehicle in a detection area at a detectiondistance away from the given vehicle; receiving notification messagessent from other vehicles, the notification messages including a tooclose notification message sent from one of the other vehicles;determining, based at least in part on a response to the too closenotification message sent from the one of the other vehicles, when thegiven vehicle is positioned in relation to the other moving vehicle suchthat the given vehicle should be driven differently; and the givenvehicle automatically taking remedial action upon the determination thatthe given vehicle is too close to the other moving vehicle.
 20. A methodfor assisting in the driving of a given vehicle in motion, the methodcomprising: driving of an object transducer carried by the given vehiclein order to detect another moving vehicle in a detection area at adetection distance away from the given vehicle; receiving notificationmessages sent from other vehicles, the notification messages including atoo close notification message sent from one of the other vehicles;determining, based at least in part on a response to the too closenotification message sent from the one of the other vehicles, when thegiven vehicle is positioned in relation to the other moving vehicle suchthat the given vehicle should be driven differently; and the givenvehicle automatically taking remedial action upon the determination thatthe given vehicle is too close to the other moving vehicle.